Welcome to Bright Falls
by McSlendy
Summary: An AU crossover with Alan Wake, in which 'Gideon Rises' happened but Dipper managed to find and keep the 3rd Journal, and had a pretty uneventful summer after the episode. After their summer in Gravity Falls, the Pines twins decide to spend another one there. Unfortunately, an otherworldly presence has other ideas... How will they fare in the quiet town of Bright Falls, Washington?


_Disclaimer:_

I don't own the Alan Wake franchise nor do I own Gravity Falls; they respectively belong to Remedy Entertainment and Alex Hirsch. As such I claim no credit for either of them, and I will not bother repeating this disclaimer for the rest of this fanfic's chapters. It's a waste of time, energy and space, people.

 _Author's Note 1:_

Heyyo. This is a fanfic that's been bugging me for a while. For those of you who have read my previous fanfics, you are well wise enough to know that I may not end up continuing this because I am an undecided jerk who leaves people wanting more, and will not deliver no matter how much I want to. Now that's out of the way, enjoy this fanfic I have cooked up from the dark corners of my mind, and from the miserable cabin within my soul. Let me know what you guys think; any form of reaction is welcome, no matter how genuine or insincere they may be.

Oh yeah. For those of you who delight in asking how things got here or there logically, please don't bother. It's a story for goodness' sake, and it's made up of fictional stuff as well as people created by those with great imaginations. TL-DR? Don't mind the plot-holes, in short. Like with many other fanfics I have published, I did them for the express purpose of letting them out of my head and allowing other people to enjoy them. And sometimes, I did so just for personal pleasure, but let's not go down that road today. Anyhow, onwards with the fanfic.

If you're here reading this for other reasons, then I worry for your sanity... as well as mine. Try not to summon the Great Cthulhu while you're doing whatever it is you're doing, Mr./Ms. reader.

* * *

 _Welcome to Bright Falls_

 ** _Prologue_**

* * *

A bus drove down a quiet Oregon road. Many of its passengers were asleep, having sat in their seats with not much to do during the drive to their destinations. Its driver took a slow, relaxed sip of coffee from his thermos as he both minded the road and the people under his responsibility. It was an early but cold morning, almost strangely so, and he couldn't help but feel that the weather forecast from the radio channel he had listened to had lied to him. But no point letting it get under his skin now. He was working, and he made sure he stayed that way. He didn't want to lose the only job he loved doing.

The road ahead was clear. The journey had been long, but the driver did not risk speeding up to finish it. He preferred the slow and steady pace. Nothing good ever came out of driving fast most of the time, and accidents happened when one least expected them, or even still when they did. Every road had an end, and there was no point hurrying to somewhere the driver knew he'd end up, if only eventually. He savored the peace - it was different compared to his household, where it was always about arguments with his wife. Arguments over the bills, the children, a new job… Hah. Like that's ever going to happen.

"Excuse me, Mr. Driver?"

The man slowly glanced at the voice's owner. It belonged to that strange young girl, the one with the pet pig, who got on at the bus stop in Piedmont with her twin brother a few hours ago. He remembered seeing her before, when she didn't have that pig yet. It was hard to forget a young girl who wore a sweater that made her stand out of the usual passengers of his bus, nor was it easy to forget a young boy who hid a unique birthmark on his forehead with a hat. He had seen it once, when the boy wiped his forehead when he thought nobody was looking. It looked like a star constellation, though he wasn't sure.

The driver stopped reminiscing. He knew he was probably freaking the girl out.

"Yeah, kid?" He finally answered the girl with a small, if not friendly smile. "Something wrong?"

The girl frowned. The driver wasn't sure why.

Mabel knew that something was wrong. She could smell it in the air. The question was, however, if the driver noticed it too. She looked at Dipper for support, only to remember that he too alongside their fellow passengers had fallen asleep sometime after their journey to Gravity Falls for this year's summer break had begun. What a summer it was, the one they had spent in that little Oregon town last year. So many things had happened there, and the twins came out as different people as result of their experiences in that strange town - Gravity Falls had indeed left its mark on both Mabel and Dipper in too deep.

"Do you smell something... like smoke?" Mabel finally managed to say. "Because Waddles can."

The brunette lifted her pet pig, who looked up at the driver. Waddles' adorable beady black eyes stared into his soul, as if they were judging his worth. The man couldn't help but shiver internally at the thought - that the pig could be more than it appeared to be - but he shrugged it off as Waddles oinked at him. His oink was loud enough for some passengers to wake up to.

The pig had backed up his owner's point. The driver raised an almost incredulous eyebrow. Almost, because he knew pigs had a sensitive sense of smell - there were the occasional news on the radio that pigs found truffles here and there every now and then, so he wasn't about to dismiss the idea of the bus being in trouble. As a man who loved his job, it made him concerned.

"Smoke, huh?" The driver repeated quietly. He sniffed the air for himself. His eyes widened.

Something was indeed smoking. Rather, burning.

He immediately hit the brakes. Thankfully, Mabel saw this coming and had braced herself and Waddles from any harm. They were the only ones unharmed. Passengers, both awake and asleep, were thrown to the backs of other seats or fell from theirs. Groans, glares and grumblings started as the man at the wheel quickly left it and went to check the engine. During all of that Mabel immediately went back to her groggy brother's side. But then there was a muffled shout, and the whole bus shook. An eerie silence settled in the aftermath.

All of a sudden, smoke was visible in the air. The passengers started to cough as they opened windows and grabbed hold of their belongings to get ready for getting out of their transport. They were about to leave en masse in a panic when the driver returned, the front of his shirt stained with soot and his right hand near completely blackened, which he clutched gingerly.

"Okay people, I want everyone to line up and get out in an orderly manner." He said with a faint grimace. "The engine's gone kaput and it's burning. I don't know how or why, but we all got to get out now before the fire reaches the gas tank."

The passengers nodded nervously and did as the man asked. However, some had to be shaken fully awake first. Dipper was among those people, and Mabel did so by manhandling him until she was sure he was wide awake. Already a quarter of the people on the bus were already off and the driver was telling the rest to stay calm and hurry up, them especially, as he helped a line of elderly passengers down the bus by the door alongside some Good Samaritans who had seen the bus in trouble.

"Mabel? What's going on?" Dipper wiped his eyes again, not quite believing his eyes. "What happened?"

"There's no time to explain, Dipper." Mabel replied urgently, and Waddles squealed. "Grab your stuff, we gotta go!"

Despite his misgivings about the situation he woke up to - as for all he knew, he could have been dreaming - Dipper did as his older twin sister told him to do and prepared to leave with her. The straps of his bags were now slung over his shoulders, and his phone was safely pocketed as Mabel secured her stuff beside him. He made sure to check if he hadn't forgotten about the Author's Third Journal too, which after a pat on his vest reassured him was still- It wasn't there! What?! How?!

"The Journal!" Dipper gasped in horror, patting himself again to make sure he wasn't imagining it. "It's not in my vest?!"

"Dipper! Forget about it!" Mabel shrieked at him; she thought her brother was right behind her when he had run back.

"Kids!" The bus driver yelled, coughing as the smoke became too thick and intense for him. "Hurry up!"

But Dipper had doubled back to their seat. When he couldn't see it, he was about to kneel and check under the rest of the seats when Mabel harshly pulled him up and away. Dipper was about to yell why she did that for when he saw for himself. The smoke was now thicker than before and the twins were finding it hard to see and breathe. But Dipper noticed there was something off with the smoke. It was pitch-black, and it seemed to move on its own like it had been given life. It didn't leave through the windows, even though they were open.

"Dipper, forget the Journal!" Mabel exclaimed, apparently not noticing the strange smoke, as she let Waddles go on ahead without them. The pig squealed in terror as he ran through it, past the legs of the surprised driver who let off a startled grunt and another cough. She used her now free hand to pull at Dipper firmer. "We gotta go, now!"

"No!" The male Pines twin snapped at his other half. "We need it for the mysteries around Gravity Falls, Mabel!"

"Dipper, no! Let it go! It's not worth your life!" Mabel insisted, pulling at Dipper so hard, he thought she was going to break his arm. Somehow, he managed to break free from her grip, but he tripped backwards. In the ensuing fall, his hand landed on something old and leathery, while Mabel fell on him, but just as quickly got back on her feet. Dipper's heart leapt. The rough texture... It was the Journal! "I got the Journal!" He said victoriously in relief. Mabel smiled a little, extending her hand.

"Oh, good! Now let's leg it already!" Mabel helped her brother up. Now having reconciled over the book, they were about to run out when an old lady wearing black clothing and a matching veil appeared out of the smoke in front of them. "What the- Oof!" They collided with her, but it seemed it did nothing to the lady. Instead she appeared to take the collision in stride.

"Ah, my dear grandchildren. You two were hiding here all along…" She was saying, unfazed by the collision.

Dipper almost screamed. For a moment he thought she was Death, come to take them away. Her appearance out of the black smoke nearly made him bash her face in with the Author's Journal in fright. She was possibly suffering from Alzheimer's, he realized, which might explain her reaction and belief that they were her grandchildren. Dipper wondered how she got into the bus in the first place without someone to mind her. Actually, now that he thought about it logically, he never saw her enter the bus, nor was she on it when they had climbed aboard at the bus stop in their hometown of Piedmont. Strange.

Mabel, however, didn't think the same thing her brother did. She was more focused on helping her - she grabbed hold of one of the woman's hands. It felt cold. "Old lady, this way to safety!" She said, pulling the strange old lady towards the door, but to her surprise, she didn't even move an inch. Mabel tried exerting more force, but found that she still didn't move. She looked at Dipper, who began staring apprehensively at the elderly woman. "Bro-Bro, help me move her! She won't budge!"

Dipper, however, was in a world of his own. He looked carefully at the woman - something didn't add up and it was making him feel uneasy. If she wasn't a passenger of the bus before, then why was she on the bus while it was under the danger of exploding into scrap? And if she was actually a passenger, then why was she still on it? Also, the way she had suddenly appeared out of the smoke in front of him and Mabel was still fresh in his mind. Sure, they had bumped into her, but when they made contact, the old lady felt… wrong. Unnatural. He couldn't describe the feeling any better or worse than he could.

It was like she was-

"Dipper! HELP ME!"

The old lady had suddenly grabbed Mabel by the wrist, and his older sister was struggling to get herself out of the vice grip. She gasped in pain as the woman's nails dug into her skin. The grandmotherly smile on her assailant's face turned into a malicious, dark sneer. "Now, now, little ones. Best not to resist your elders." She said, mostly to Mabel. Her voice deepened and it was as if the whole world around her had gotten dark. It got worse when the winds started to pick up, like a hurricane.

Mabel screamed.

Whatever doubts Dipper had about her turned out to be well-founded - the boy shook himself free of his thoughts and lunged at the woman, book in hand. "Let go of my sister!" He yelled angrily. Despite how scary the woman looked, he would brave anything for his older twin sister. In the back of his mind, all he could focus on was about protecting Mabel from this danger.

He slammed the Journal across the lady's face. Whether it was because of instinct or simple rage at the fact that his sister got hurt, he hit her face hard. To Dipper's surprise she staggered from the force. It was enough for her to let go of Mabel. His sister quickly ran behind him, fearfully looking over his shoulder at the lady. Dipper was shocked. He had never seen this kind of fear from Mabel in a long time. The only time he had was when she was trying to say 'No' to Gideon, and failed.

The bus shook again, but both twins knew what that meant. They were running out of time.

This was bad. Mabel had almost forgotten that the bus was in danger of exploding. For some reason, it hadn't done so during the time they had encountered the old woman. But it was strangely quiet now. The bus driver was no longer yelling for them to hurry up. It was as if he had disappeared, as did the other people who helped the other passengers out of their bus. The very thought troubled her - where could they have gone? While Dipper valiantly faced down the 'lady' blocking their way, Mabel dared to look through the windows, to call for anyone that could help. What she saw chilled her to the bone instead.

It was dark outside. Not the kind of dark that the night brought, but the kind of dark that was supernatural. Living shadows flickered from trees. Dark fog rolled in and out in erratic patterns. Birds flew in tight clusters, cawing shrilly into the air. But those weren't what made Mabel scared. It was the people that walked around aimlessly amongst it all. Unlike the old lady, they were covered in flickering shadows, and they were armed. They were so many of them. They had surrounded the bus.

Someone laughed. It was the old lady. It was ominous. No, beyond it. The hairs on the back of their necks stood up.

"You shouldn't have done that." She cackled. "Now, you two will be lost in the darkness forever, my dearies..."

Mabel clung to her brother, whimpering with a new-found fear of the dark. Dipper warily stepped back, torn between comforting his sister and fighting the being wearing a human facade. But with the Journal as his only makeshift weapon, Dipper knew there was nothing he could do to get him and Mabel out of this one. And there was nothing in the book that detailed a being of this power and scale. He felt cold, tired even, all of a sudden. But why was he getting sleepy? Mabel collapsed into his back. He dropped the Journal and it landed by his feet. His knees buckled and he fell on them.

"Sleep, my dear grandchildren. You've both had a tiresome day…" The being cooed into his ears. He almost obeyed.

"N-No…" Dipper stammered, his eyes trailing down to Mabel's face on his shoulder.

She was shaking in her sleep, tears pooling in the corners of her closed eyes. She was muttering something that Dipper couldn't quite catch, but his name kept popping up. She sounded like she was pleading for something not to happen. He desperately wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to her, not now.

Dipper shook, unsure what to feel or think in his last moments with his sister.

"Sleep." The being cooed again. And again, Dipper almost obeyed.

He tried to fight it, but it was as if his body was actually too exhausted to listen to him. His shoulders slumped and he leaned backwards towards Mabel, their bodies supporting each other. His breathing was erratic. His arms slackened. His thoughts became distorted. His vision became blurry. Yet, during all of that, his ears listened keenly to the sweet nothings the being whispered into his ears. Each lie weakened his resolve, and for every second that ticked by it seemed they were done for.

Whatever was happening to them was one mystery the twins will never solve now.

"I don't think so!"

A flash of red, a hiss of chemicals reacting. Someone else had burst out of the darkness of the bus, holding a lit flare in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. It was a man. He wore a drab grey cardigan over his clothes, his face set with grim determination. His black hair fluttered in the changing winds. He threw the flare at Dipper, and it landed at his feet, dousing him with red light. The boy was stunned as he felt awake again. His fatigue was gone, replaced with the boundless energy of youth.

Meanwhile, the being screeched as the light touched it, repulsed at the contact. It frantically scuppered backwards, as far away as it could from the flare in the confines of the bus. The bus shook as it moved, and the winds began to turn fierce as a storm as the being's anger rose. Trees were uprooted, shadowy people were flung into the air, and the bus' windows cracked and broke, sending glass shards flying into the maelstrom outside. The combined noise was nearly deafening, and it was to this cacophony that Mabel woke up to; confused, scared, and uncomprehending as objects and people collided in the air.

"W-What?" She could only manage. She watched the man take out a revolver from his pocket and aimed it at the being.

He fired. Six shots hit their mark, each bullet earning a howl of pain from the being across them. Each was more inhuman than the last. The twins' ears were pounding as the man holstered his gun and pulled both of them up to their feet. Dipper had the sense to grab his Journal and Mabel her brother's hand as he then put himself between it and them. The man turned to them, his eyes full of purpose. He reached into his cardigan and took a piece of paper out, handing it over to the twins.

It looked like a page from a manuscript of a story.

"Take this!" The mysterious man yelled over the noise. He spun around to face the snarling creature as soon as Dipper grabbed it, and quickly reloaded his revolver before it advanced. Shining his flashlight at it, he shot it in the chest repeatedly. The black smoke around them slowly dissipated as it staggered back with each shot until it was against the wind-shields.

The twins gaped in horror, however, when it seemed that the gun left no lasting harm on the being. It roared in fury.

"Read what's on that paper out loud!" The man yelled over his shoulder at the twins, before he reloaded his revolver again.

"Why?!" Dipper asked over the roaring. Mabel whimpered and clung to her brother as she watched the being advance.

"JUST DO IT!" He snapped at Dipper, and fired at the being as the bus was slowly lifted off the ground by the winds.

With no other choice, the twins cleared their throats and looked down at the manuscript page Mabel held with her free hand.

 _"The twins were saved by the driver, who braved the smoke and grabbed them from within the noxious fumes."_

They froze. What the heck? The Pines twins shared a confused look with each other. Why was the manuscript page talking about them being saved by the driver when he was nowhere to be seen? Dipper was about to ask the mysterious man what this was all about before he suddenly felt like he was being picked up. Mabel shrieked as she was picked up too. The twins struggled, until they recognised the coughs of the person that carried them. Their eyes widened amidst the choking smoke.

It was the bus driver.

The man had braved the smoke and grabbed the twins from within the noxious fumes, exactly as the manuscript page said he would. They could only watch him, in sheer surprise, as he ran through it again and exited the bus, coughing all the while. The other passengers, whom Mabel thought had disappeared in the darkness of the sudden night, were cheering the man on as he slowly cleared the distance they had put themselves in away from the bus. Everything looked exactly as Mabel saw earlier, except that nothing supernatural was going on and it was still morning - sunlight had never felt so welcomed before.

However, the twins' minds were still replaying the events on the bus.

It was all confusing to say the least. Confusing because they literally had no idea what just happened. The twins' journey from Piedmont was supposed to be the prelude to their summer at Gravity Falls, not this. They couldn't help but feel that they had stumbled on to something big, something that they knew they couldn't handle without help.

Mabel shuddered as she remembered the 'old lady' who she tried to save, but ended up being attacked by. What was she?  
Dipper frowned as he recalled the man who had saved them with that manuscript page, but was left behind. Who was he?

"Kids! You alright?!" The driver panted as he let them down from his shoulders. He collapsed on one knee.

People crowded around as they praised the driver while someone approached the man with a first aid kit. They were too focused on the wounded man to notice that the twins he had saved had disappeared, as did their belongings. By the time someone had noticed and yelled out to the others, it was too far late.

Dipper and Mabel Pines were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Far away from the searching crowd, a figure dressed in black smiled maliciously.

"You were too late, writer. I have touched them, tainted them... They shall not escape my grasp easily, now. Nor shall you."

The old lady listened to the breeze, snarling. The smile turned into a sneer. "My escape is near. Soon I shall be free, and I will control all. It is only a matter of time before I am freed… Yet, you seek to delay the inevitable. Your efforts are futile. The world will be blanketed by my darkness, as it was meant to be since my conception… You cannot win against me."

The breeze turned into a gale. It lasted for only a moment.

The sneer turned into a smirk. "We shall see."

* * *

 _Author's Note 2:_

Woah. What a heavy prologue. Are you readers on the edge of your seats waiting for the next chapter? I hope you aren't, because more than likely this will be the only chapter you will ever see of this fanfic. Hopefully it wouldn't be, though. I am absolutely tired of giving up when my heart says otherwise. My mind is a great and stubborn enemy that I really want to beat simply because all my mental self put-downs is really getting me down. You feeling me? That being said, I'm really sad that Gravity Falls is coming to an end. I feel like it has so much more to offer...


End file.
